Of course if some NYC couple decides to relocate to the reborn Allentown, they will be in for quite a surprise come dinner time. They will find that the restaurants are only open for a few nights a week. They will find that the coffee shops close at 6:00PM. They will find that the stores mentioned are the only stores there are. They will find that they have moved to a Potemkin Village.
The cheerleaders I referred to in the first paragraph all have some things in common. Either they have a business, or they're a newcomer with no frame of reference, or both. Some others are former Allentonians, also in the dark about the realities. Although this blog is in its eighteenth year, I have only resorted to off color language in this last week. Like Popeye, I could only take so much for so long.
I've said for years, if we still had news media that did comprehensive investigative, detailed reporting, the Allentown 'Rebirth' story could be presented in a 3-4 part featured report that could win someone a Pulitzer Prize.
ReplyDeleteThe Allentown 'Rebirth' story has all the makings that would have strongly appealed to the old CBS 60 Minutes program (when that was still legitimate). This is a saga full of mystery and intrigue. It directly effects every taxpayer in Pennsylvania, a state known for political corruption and corporate funny business.
This is indeed a curious 'rebirth.' The entire episode done in secrecy and obfuscation. Imagine how taxpayers outside the Lehigh Valley would react if they truly understood how many of their tax dollars have be squandered here. A true money pit that grows deeper by the year.
I just watched a U-Tube, 10 worst places in Pa ,Allentown made the list. This included Philadelphia, Mahoney city and Shenandoah. It may fly to the new generation, but old timers like Mike remember Allentown's crowded streets on Thursday nights. The loop were young people from the outskirts came to Allentown and the Fairgrounds . At least 6 or 7 movie theaters and of course Hess Brothers.
ReplyDeleteYo, Ray, Philly, home of the Phillies, the fabulous Eagles, the Sixers and the Flyers, the Philadelphia Art Museum and the Rodan Museum, the Muter, Ben Franklin Science Center and the Barnes, the greatest collection of impressionists in the world. Boat House Row.The Liberty Bell, Betsy Ross House ,Independence Hall, Italian Market, South St., Citizens Bank Field, Temple U, Drexel, UPenn,
DeleteHaunamen Medical Center CHOP, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, etc. etc,
One of THE Great American Cities.
You should get out more.
Jest sayin.
It’s all theater.
ReplyDeleteThe irony in this post is amazing.
ReplyDeleteIf the NIZ hadn’t been written by a friend of the one man who is the sole beneficiary of the state tax break, and if that one man had the ability to find tenants beyond those already in state, the NIZ could have been the best legislation ever written in PA.
A competent NIZ board could had advertised the opportunity to nearby NJ and NY companies, and they could have built their own buildings as they flee those high-tax states for a golden opportunity in nearby Allentown. The NY Times would have been writing about these companies being poached by Pennsylvania.
Instead, we got one person with a limited Rolodex controlling almost all the property in the NIZ whole poached in-state companies, often from inside Allentown itself.
At worst this is an example of the indirect cost of corruption. At best, it’s the biggest missed opportunity in Allentown and PA history.
We don’t have Amtrak and our Airport has only 3-4 expensive fights a day excluding retirement communities in Florida. Tough sell to get a New York or Northern NJ company to come here.
DeleteI’m betting that Reilly’s Rolodex includes powerful and well connected people in NYC. The kind of people who have connections of their own like at the NYTIMES.
Deleteanon@5:27: My hunch is that it was an "organic" article, based on a city with so much development, relatively close to NYC. The article was about the growth, not the inequity of the NIZ. Keep in mind even the state congressmen don't complain about it. Only Jarrett Coleman pushed for an audit, and he'll probably never get any sort of forensic accounting.
DeleteThe “journalist” was paid to write this piece. This kind of “journalism” happens regularly. It’s the same with music and art reviews. It’s the dirty little secret of the business.
ReplyDeleteanon@8:24: I suppose that's possible. And who do you allege paid her?
DeleteWho paid for this promotional puff piece is a good question. I don’t suspect that we will ever know how the transaction was conducted. I don’t think that a particularly large amount of money was required and the payment was likely done through intermediaries once or twice removed.
DeleteThere is certainly plenty of loose change sloshing around the greater NIZ boondoggle.
My hunch is that it was a legitimate piece, not a paid for article. To an outsider spending a couple hours in town, it looks impressive.
Deleteanon@8:20: The irony is indeed rich. Pat Browne's wife put the NYT article on her Facebook page, as did a city council member's wife. In my mind the NIZ is criminal, and their board is beyond complicit.
ReplyDeleteGood post Mike. Your spot on. A movie should definitely be made on Allentown. "Once the all American city"
ReplyDeleteCall it the Fleecing of Pennsylvania Taxpayers.
DeleteNo one cares.
DeleteUrban centers all over the country are disaster zones.
Considering all the poaching of corporations already in Pennsylvania, the job shifting, consumer spending shifting from (in example) Bethlehem to Allentown, the success of this NIZ scheme can onlyy be called dismal.
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to bet, after 15 years of the NIZ, the state of Pennsylvania has received NO additional revenue from that same district then it was already receiving without the NIZ being created.
I'm not accepting additional comments that the NYT article was a paid for promotion about Allentown.
ReplyDeleteHow could a reporter from the most prestigious newspaper in the English speaking world get a story so wrong?
ReplyDeleteThis isn’t a rhetorical question.
A story on the remarkable renaissance in Easton would have made sense.
This reads like an April Fool Day story.
Mike if we look at little deeper the once homes have become rooming houses. Than there are facts that some city dwellers are now living in basements and garages? The writer must have stayed on Hamilton Street and viewed goggle maps to write this spin.
ReplyDeleteanon@2:27: To everyone who I refer to as a cheerleader the story is accurate. Details like diverted state taxes and redirected cigarette taxes only annoy a blogger like me, and my readers. John Q public loses no sleep over such things.
ReplyDeleteOH BOY... cheerleader is word I was going to use, but you beat me to the punch!!! I thought it would be prudent to look up and read the NYT article... what a croak of steaming shite!!! We have huge problems with people that like pretty things... they'll buy a piece of garbage car because it looks "nice"... just like downtown.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I liked the old buildings... they were built like proverbial brick outhouses with waaay more charm, interest and architectural appointments. Today it looks the same from earhole to asshole, no interesting accoutrements.
They claim they have paid the state back a few tons of money, but let's see the actual accounting of these "payments"!!! DISGUSTING!!!!
We see this happening more every day. News outlets writing and reading submitted press releases exactly as prepared by the promoter. There appears to no longer be an effort to question whatever is claimed, no effort to justify facts, figures, or authenticity. No follow-ups to verify.
ReplyDeleteMost recently the Musikfest people claimed an incredible attendance figure for their event, something like 1.47 million. for an event that's only open about 7 hours per day, and on the amount of land area used, that number is impossible to achieve.
So, to the NIZ folks, why not claim billions and billions of ADDITIONAL tax revenue is filling the treasury every year to fund state programs due to the highly successful money machine created in Allentown?
City Council considers a massive PR campaign and suddenly the New York Times rediscovered Allentown for the first time since The Latinization of Allentown in the Sunday Magazine.
ReplyDeleteWhat a coincidence!
The NYT article forgot to mention the warehouse boom.
ReplyDeleteMike, aren't you about ready to pack it in and join us residents of the scenic rural areas of Lehigh and Northampton counties?
ReplyDeleteWell Michael, where do we start! The reporter forgot to include in her article… besides the wonderful renaissance of Downtown Allentown into the now City Center.
ReplyDeleteOur former Mayor Fed Ed Palowski is sitting in a Federal Penitentiary somewhere in Connecticut, after being convicted of 30 or 40 racketeering charges, and pay to play counts. Several key members of his administration were also charged with crimes pertaining to corruption involving the NIZ. Several key developers and builders were named as defendants as well. The list goes on! Several key players fled the ship before, during, and after the investigation by the FBI commenced. It was quite a scene watching the varmit’s fleeing City Hall and City Council for higher State Office and other public institutions. Some of them disappeared completely.
So Michael, what the reporter should have focused on..:is after the arena was built in Downtown Allentown and it’s been approximately 12 years. Question number #1- Is the arena meeting its debt service and turning a profit or is it in the hole financially? That truly would be an interesting article to read. Of course, finding out that information might be a very difficult task. Since anything pertaining to the NIZ or anything in the NIZ is a highly guarded secret.
Another question would be… the hotel which is part of the arena complex, is that financially stable?
Another question would be, how busy is the Lehigh Valley Hospital Rehabilitation Facility on the upper floors of the arena complex?
Another question would be… There are names of people on buildings in Downtown Allentown/City Center… why are these names on these building and structures???
These are just a few of the questions that I think would be very interesting to delve into if I was a reporter! Just Sayin!
None of Pawlowski Inc.s federal charges involved the NIZ.
DeleteJust sayin’.
@3:54
ReplyDeleteAt this point the citizens of Allentown should be more concerned about those
Pawlowski enablers and co conspirators who remain on the city payroll rather than the rats and criminals who have gotten away.
Mayor Pawlowski was indicted on 54 counts of corruption and convicted on 47 counts. He is in a Federal Department of Prisons camp in rural Maryland, approximately, four hours from Allentown. He will most likely have another six years to serve on his sentence before release.
ReplyDelete